Sparring
by Martenzo
Summary: Multi-shot. Ties in with Hidden Depths, but the timeframe is somewhat loose (unlike the main story, which is clearly timestamped). Having joined the Team, Raven trains with various members of the covert team of young superheroes.


Chapter 1

* * *

Mount Justice

* * *

_Pain is pointless_, Raven reminded herself after being knocked, tripped or thrown to the ground by Black Canary for what felt like the hundredth time in the past hour of training. The strain was getting to Raven, despite her efforts to suppress the feeling and continue training. Though she'd never admit it, she felt ashamed about Black Canary taking her down this easily. For all of Raven's training and powers, Canary never took more than three fluid moves to bring down Raven. Of course, Raven was doing her best not to use her powers. That was, after all, the point of this hand to hand exercise. Though Raven was only indulging Canary. The very idea that someone could strip her of her powers felt absurd to her.

Raven takes her time rising to her feet, taking the most of the brief respite while pretending she wasn't exhausted. "Again." Raven quietly said, raising her hands to a defensive stance as she had so many times before.

"No" Black Canary states resolutely "At first, I thought you were a quick learner. For the first thirty minutes you never fell for the same move twice. Now, you're not even trying anymore. You're just punishing yourself. I should have stopped this there and then."  
Raven remains silent, a grim look on her face.  
_She's right, but there's no way in hell I'll admit _that_ out loud_. Raven thinks to herself  
"I won't be a burden to the team." She finally replies.

Canary has a strange look on her face as she stares down the young heroine. A mix of concern, curiosity and... something else. Something she's trying to hide. Raven hesitates for a moment before putting extra effort into suppressing her empathy.  
_Her emotions are her own. It would be wrong to intrude._ Raven reminds herself.

"Alright, Raven." Canary begins her summation of their first sparring session. "As a hand to hand fighter, you're fairly competent. You have good reflexes and the precision of your movements is almost on my level. On the down side, you're not that strong and not nearly aggressive enough. You need to act, not react, if you want to defeat an opponent.

"All in all, you're good. But you're not good enough to hold your own against costumed criminals. Honestly, I don't think I'm the best teacher for you. Since your powers have something to do with sorcery, I suggest talking to Kaldur about training. He's young, but he's be a good instructor, even if he doesn't realize it."

Raven takes the suggestion to heart, but following up has to wait. The training exercise had gone wrong, and nobody on the team was in any condition to even think about sparring.

* * *

As the pain of the simulation faded, Raven eventually remembered to follow up on Canary's offer. There had been a few combat lessons since then. Members of the team facing off against each other, but Raven hadn't participated just yet. Instead, she watched and learned. _All of them are heroes who can hold their own_ Raven figured _If I can adopt their style for myself, I could probably hold my own too._

Miss Martian was the first logical choice. Telekinesis and psychic powers were something they both had in common. But it looked like M'gann wasn't using her psychic powers. Understandable, considering how it would mean invading the minds of her friends. Raven finally ruled out mimicking M'gann when she realized that she uses a lot of shapeshifting in close combat.

Raven then turned her attention to M'gann's sparring partner, but Superboy was quickly ruled out as well. Her pain-tolerance notwithstanding, Raven didn't have the strength or the invulnerability to use a style as aggressive as Superboy's. Not to mention the side-effects she'd have from letting herself get that angry.

Then, she turned her attention to Robin and Artemis. Both regular humans without superpowers of any kind. As far as martial arts went, they were both good. Though Robin was better by far. The benefit of being more experienced, Raven supposed. Raven carefully observed the pair as they fought, committing their movements to memory to practice them alone.

Then, she turns her attention to the last pair of sparring heroes. Without his super speed, Kid Flash seemed to use a style very similar to Robin. _It seems I'm not the only one here who mimics other members of the team._ Raven thinks to herself. KF's super speed was something Raven could never hope to achieve, so she stopped observing Kid Flash and turned her attention to the leader of the Team.

Aqualad. Raven observed him as he fought against the super speed of Kid Flash. His motions were soft and fluid, and yet they carried immense strength and focus. _I could make that work._ Raven realizes as Aqualad knocks KF to the ground by lashing out with a water-whip from his waterbearer. Wally gets back up quickly enough and the training goes on. Raven watches the well-toned, dark-skinned Atlantean for some time, mesmerized by Kaldur's combination of skill and strength. In her mind, she plays through most of Kaldur's movements: his attacks, his blocks and his dodges. After some time, Wally is knocked to the ground again.

With that, Black Canary calls an end to the training session. That causes Raven to snap back to reality and she realizes that she'd been staring. While her hood (thankfully) conceals it, Raven blushes, confused as to why watching the young superhero made her blush.


End file.
